This is a copy of a letter I sent to my family and friends from Michigan. I hope you all enjoy - it's great to be home now, but what a wonderful time we had.

Well, I've just spent my very first OFFICIAL vacation at the "beach". I have found it so interesting since I've been here in Greensboro how strange it is to hear about people going to the beach since in Michigan it was never more than a 5 minute drive to the beach for me. (I think I've mentioned how difficult it has been for me to have a sense of direction here with no water around me. It seems even the sun doesn't help much - but since I'm more familiar with the directions now I can get a sense of where I am by using the sun....and my GPS has really helped!)

This experience was something different though. I suppose it was something like people going from Detroit to northern Michigan. Going from the fast life to a whole other world - a world where time doesn't matter much and really slows to a snails' pace.

We stayed for a week on Oak Island. It is about 250 miles east of Greensboro. We stayed in a wonderful condo on the ocean. The complex consisted of three buildings arranged in a horseshoe manner. Between the buildings was the pool area. A short walk away was the beach. Bill never made it to the ocean this year since we didn't rent a beach wheelchair and I just didn't think he could quite manage the sand. He was perfectly happy though since I walked the beach while he was sleeping. The first time I put my foot in the ocean was amazing. I expected the frigid water of Lake Michigan and instead I got a somewhat tepid treat.

We spent about an hour each day by the pool. In just a week we came back tanned as if we'd been outside all summer. It was too warm to stay much longer outside. Can you believe it? The first week in June and it was too warm to stay outside all day?

We had rain Saturday - the day of Angie and Shane's wedding (Bill's niece). They were married in an outside wedding about 50 miles from the beach. They hadn't made provision for rain since the wedding was at a Bed and Breakfast - and it's been soooo dry down here. We got good use of our umbrellas and they got a somewhat "fast forwarded" wedding ceremony! On Sunday it was a little overcast, but the rest of the week was just fantastic. The surf was really wild Saturday and Sunday both. Riptide warnings were posted most of the week. I chose to stay out of the ocean since I've never experienced a riptide and didn't want to!!

Friday I spent an extra hour at the pool! Friday evening we had dinner at a restaurant called The Lucky Fisherman. It was a huge place and was a seafood buffet. Yet another treat. I didn't get adventurous enough to try the alligator though. It was a great birthday.

We took Bill's mom with us and that helped a lot too. If I wanted to walk on the beach I didn't have to worry. She was real easy to have around. We missed the busiest time of the year and this week the cost of our condo went up by $350 per week. School wasn't out until last Thursday so families converged this week I bet!

Anyway, I just had to share our vacation with you all. I now know how all those Fudgies feel when they go north and have a perfect week - totally relaxed and full of memories of the beach! (FYI - "Fudgies" are the name the residents have fondly used to label those visiting the area since invariably one of the most sought after treats of northern Michigan is the hand made fudge.)